Newcastle United have appointed the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, Majed Al Sorour, to the club’s board.
The appointment of Sorour, who is also CEO of Golf Saudi, was registered on the club’s Company House filings on Friday, May 13.
Sorour has extensive entrepreneurial experience in the Middle East and has held his positions at the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi since the latter’s launch in 2018, leading Saudi Arabia’s drive to bring the world’s top golfers to play in the Gulf kingdom. He is also an advisor to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and has been on the board of the football club Al-Nassr in Riyadh.
Sorour is the fourth member on Newcastle’s board, joining Saudi royal court advisor Yasir Al-Rumayyan as well as business executives and minority shareholders Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben.
The Saudi-based Al Sorour was also present alongside Newcastle’s new owners at St James’ Park during their first game after their takeover in October, a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
PIF acquired an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle in a £305 million deal last year. At the time, the Premier League and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said there was no connection between the PIF and the Saudi state.
PIF, which is chaired by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, features six Saudi government ministers on its board in addition to its governor Al-Rumayyan who, along with his role at Newcastle, also chairs the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco.
Newcastle are 14th in the Premier League table and face Arsenal next on Monday.
